An occurrence of the rare Sharptail Mola Masturus lanceolatus (Lienard, 1840) (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae), in the coastal waters of Visakhapatnam, India

Abstract

A single specimen of the Sharptail Mola Masturus lanceolatus (Lienard, 1840) (total length 1.39m) was collected from a commercial trawler operated from Visakhapatnam at a depth range of 150–300 m, east coast of India on 12 April 2016. It was recorded for the first time in Visakhapatnam. A detailed description, morphometric and meristic characters of the species are provided in this paper

Keywords

• First record
• India
• Masturus lanceolatus
• Visakhapatnam.